Jane's Heart Wasn't Healthy Enough to Withstand Surgery

In this Section

When Jane Hoylman's orthopedic surgeon examined her hip, he didn’t know
how she was even walking.

“It was bone-on-bone,”
Jane says. “There was nothing there.”

The 85-year-old needed a full left hip replacement as soon as possible.
But there were complications. Her orthopedic
surgeon was concerned that Jane’s heart wasn’t healthy
enough to withstand the surgery. Her atrial fibrillation and low
heart-rate – as low as 40 BPM – meant surgery needed to be delayed.
That’s where Dr. John Catanzaro, a cardiac electrophysiologist, came in.

Dr. Catanzaro gave Jane an intravenous infusion of isoproterenol to help
boost her heart-rate and kept a watchful eye over her as she went
through surgery and recovery.

“He told me he would drop whatever he was doing and come to the
operating room if I had any problems. I thought that was above and
beyond,” Jane says. “Thankfully, everything went fine, but that made the
biggest impression on me.”

That sort of cooperative care is what Columbia St. Mary’s is all about.
Our doctors pride themselves on working together, no matter their
specialty, in order to bring about the best outcomes for our patients.

After a short delay, her orthopedic
surgeon performed the
surgery as originally scheduled on September 3rd. The surgery was a
success and Jane is currently in recovery and rehabilitation. It’s a
long process, but she is making good progress.

“I’m walking,” she says, “but not far enough yet.”

Jane’s hip surgery was the most recent in a long history of encounters
with Columbia St. Mary’s, dating back to when she first moved to
Milwaukee in 1997. In 1999 she was successfully treated for breast
cancer, about 10 years ago she had her right hip replaced and more
recently she had come in for a knee replacement.

“I have nothing but good to say about Columbia St. Mary’s,” Jane says.
“The staff really is people-oriented, from the doctors to the nurses to
the maintenance personnel. They’re all interested in me as a person, not
as a number, and I find that very comforting and reassuring. And this is
what I have experienced at Columbia St. Mary’s the many times I’ve been
in and out.”